Comatose
by Follow-The-Firefly
Summary: What do you do when the one you love is fading away? Rated T for Teen. AxelXRoxas


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs or KH.**

**Hey yo! It's Mika-chan! I dreamt this last night and I thought it would be a great fanfiction! This is ten pages long! My longest ever!! anyway...on with the deadly tale!**

A young Nobody sat alone in his room in the Castle That Never Was, bored out of his mind. The stereo played a song in the background and this Nobody was singing along with the vocalist.

"_Do or die, you'll never make me because the world can never take my heart. You can try. You'll never break me. You want it all. I'm gonna play this part. Won't explain or say I'm sorry. I'm not ashamed. I'm gonna show my scar. You're the chair for all the broken. Loose it here because it's to me."_

While he was singing, Roxas was dancing along with the music. With the last word of every line, his foot slammed to the floor. Whenever Axel did it, flames would burst forth and surround him, usually different coloured flames, at that. That's who Roxas was waiting for: Axel.

The Flurry of Dancing Flames had been sent on a mission in Atlantica with Demyx for one reason or another. Axel hadn't told Roxas the reason; he didn't know them himself. Xemnas had only told Demyx, though why this is the case is unknown.

Axel hadn't wanted to go to Atlantica. Since he controlled fire, water made him sick, which is only natural. Demyx got dehydrated when he went to Agrabah and had to go to Atlantica for a few days to recover. But Axel also had to worry about the cold, too. That's why he got so ticked off at Vexen for turning the heat down; Axel's body couldn't handle the cold. Or water, for that matter.

So Roxas was waiting for Axel to come back, wondering how sick the Flurry of Dancing Flames would be. He'd been gone almost the whole day, which was _not_ a good thing if he'd been in Atlantica the whole time. Well, if things got too bad, Axel always went to Agrabah or the deserts in the Pride Land to reheat his body and went back to the underwater world. Maybe that's what he did this time.

Roxas soon got bored with the CD he was currently listening to and changed to a new CD, something that he could dance to. Setting the track, Roxas waited for the guitar and the drums to start before he started spinning around the room in time with the heavy bass. The Key of Destiny had picked up a lot of things from Axel and dancing was just one of those things.

"_Roxas!"_

Demyx. Demyx always yelled. But this time it sounded like something was wrong. The Melodious Nocturne had used that scream that he only used when something bad had happened. Roxas' thoughts immediately turned to Axel.

Racing out of his room, Roxas ran into the corridor to find Demyx holding an unconscious Axel in his arms. The Flurry of Dancing Flames must've passed out on the mission, which had happened before. But there was something about the look in Demyx's eyes that made Roxas fear the worst.

"What happened, Demyx?" Roxas demanded when he reached the neophyte.

"We got held up in Atlantica." Demyx started to explain.

"Yeah, I can see that." Roxas said quickly. "But what happened to Axel?"

"We accidentally caused a fight and we couldn't leave. We were there all day." Demyx said turning into Axel's room and setting the Flurry of Dancing Flames gently on the bed. "So Axel had been getting sick for a while, but he just passed out!"

"But why is this any different from the other times?" Roxas asked.

"Because I can't wake him up!" Demyx wailed.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked, panic rising in his voice.

"I tried everything, but he won't wake up, Roxas!" Demyx exclaimed. "I thought something bad might've happened, so I brought him back here."

"I'm getting Vexen." Roxas said. "Don't leave him, ok?"

"Got it." Demyx nodded, the worried look never leaving his eyes as he looked at the unconscious Nobody.

Roxas knew that Vexen wouldn't like to be disturbed, especially since he was working on an experiment, but this was an emergency. If Axel wasn't waking up, something was wrong.

"Vexen!" Roxas yelled as he burst through the Lab That Never Was.

"What is it, Roxas?" Vexen was not pleased, as expected.

"Vexen, something's wrong with Axel." Roxas said, panting slightly since he had run from the seventh floor down to the lower levels.

"What happened now?" Vexen looked up from the microscope in front of him.

"Demyx just brought him back from Atlantica and he's unconscious-" Roxas began.

"So wake him up and stop bugging me." Vexen snapped.

"But he won't wake up!" Roxas exclaimed, wondering why Vexen couldn't see the seriousness of the situation.

"How long was he there?" Vexen frowned.

"All day. Since he left with Demyx." Roxas replied.

"Ok, fine. I'll see what's wrong with him." Vexen said. "But it might not be good, Roxas."

"I know. That's why I wanted you to check him out." Roxas said.

"We'll make a portal." Vexen said. "We'll get there quicker."

Soon, the sandy midnight-black portal had erupted in the ivory lab. When the two Nobodies walked through it, they found that they were just outside Axel's room in the seventh floor corridor.

"How is he?" Roxas asked Demyx when they walked inside.

"He's still the same." Demyx shook his head.

"Ok, both of you go outside so I can be in peace here." Vexen shoved the neophytes out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Zexion asked as he came out of his room nearby and joined Roxas and Demyx.

"Axel won't wake up." Roxas said, voice cracking from panic.

"Demyx, did you leave him in Atlantica again?" Zexion asked, closing his lexicon.

"We were fighting there all day." Demyx shook his head.

"So you should have been able to tell when he was loosing it, Demyx!" Roxas' hand found Demyx's throat, pinning the Melodious Nocturne up against the wall.

"Roxas!" Zexion gasped as he tried to pull Roxas back, his book falling to the floor with a thud that echoed through the corridor.

"I didn't…know he…had gotten…that bad!" Demyx couldn't quite speak because Roxas was squeezing his throat.

"Knock it off, Roxas!" Zexion pulled Roxas off of Demyx, who gasped for breath. "We know you're worried about Axel, but killing Demyx won't make him any better, ok?"

"I know, I know." Roxas said. "I wish I knew what was wrong with him."

"Well, Vexen's going to find out." Zexion said. "So calm down, ok? Axel's probably just asleep."

"I've tried everything. Even the stuff that always wakes him up!" Demyx exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Zexion's waist.

"Wait…" Roxas frowned, remembering something Demyx had mentioned just seconds before. "How did you not know Axel had gotten that bad?"

"We were fighting in different parts of Atlantica. I went off in one direction and Axel went off in another." Demyx said. "When the fight was over, I went to find him. When I saw him on the ground, I knew something was wrong." Demyx took a deep breath and continued. "I tried everything that I could think of, but he wouldn't wake up. So I brought him back here."

"But how did you know he was loosing it?" Zexion frowned at his lover.

"Because we'd been in the main city for a while. I could tell he was getting worse." Demyx said. "But then the riot started and we couldn't create a portal to come here."

"So you had to fight it all out." Roxas nodded.

The door opened and Vexen stepped out into the corridor, looking slightly taken aback by Zexion's presence, but said nothing about it.

"What's wrong with him?" Roxas demanded.

"Axel is in a coma." Vexen said.

"A coma?" Roxas repeated breathlessly.

"It's when-" Vexen tried to explain.

"I know what it is!" Roxas yelled.

"Nobodies don't usually go in comas. I have no idea what will happen to Axel." Vexen said.

"So he's going to die." Zexion said. "Is that it?"

"As with humans, Axel could die. But there's always the chance that he won't." Vexen replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"So when will he wake up?" Roxas asked.

"I have no idea. Whenever his brain says that it's ok." Vexen said. "A person goes into a coma when the brain is in danger."

"Probably from all the water." Demyx said with a curt nod.

"The brain shuts down, in a sense, in order to protect itself." Vexen continued.

"But Axel's safe here." Roxas said. "So why isn't he awake yet?"

Vexen opened his mouth to speak, but Zexion continued for him.

"Because Axel's brain doesn't realize it yet. He hasn't had a chance to acknowledge the fact that it's okay for him to wake up." Zexion said.

"So what do we have to do?" Demyx asked.

"There's nothing we can do. We just have to make sure that he doesn't fade and we'll be able to tell if he does." Zexion said.

"But what if he _does_ start to fade?" Roxas didn't want to think of the possibility that his beloved pyro would die.

"Then there's nothing we can do." Vexen said.

"You know as well as the rest of us that we can't stop a fading." Zexion said grimly.

Roxas said nothing. Axel couldn't fade. He wouldn't. He was always saying that he wouldn't leave Roxas behind. Axel never went back on his promises. Not if he could help it.

"Roxas, people in comas can hear their surroundings. It might help to talk to him." Vexen said.

"Just be sure you say positive things that would make Axel want to wake up." Zexion said.

"I wouldn't tell him about anything bad." Roxas said.

"But, Roxas, Axel might not remember you when he wakes up." Vexen said.

"Why not?" Demyx frowned. "He should remember Roxas, of all people."

"That's just how comas work." Zexion shrugged.

"But he always could." Vexen said.

"I'll go tell Superior." Zexion said. "He should be notified." He turned to Roxas and said, "Roxas, are you going to stay with him?"

"Yeah…" Roxas nodded slowly.

"Let either Zexion or I know if there's any change." Vexen said.

Roxas nodded again and made his way into Axel's room, leaving the other three Nobodies in the corridor. He had prepared himself to not recognize Axel, but he wasn't expecting this.

Axel was still on his bed, his peridot eyes closed. He really looked like he could have been sleeping, but Roxas knew that he wasn't. Standing next to the bed, Roxas clasped his hand around Axel's, feeling the unnatural cold. Axel's face was unusually pale, like he hadn't been in the sun for several years. It was almost as if Axel was fading slowly, but he wasn't. Roxas brushed his fingers against the cascade tattoo underneath the right eye and felt that the face was just as cold as the hand and freezing in comparison to the room, which Axel always kept at a toasty eighty-eight degrees.

Roxas decided that he'd try to talk to Axel, though 'talk' wasn't the right word. Axel would want to hear Roxas. Roxas knew he meant more to Axel than life itself and would love to hear his voice.

"Axel, it's Roxas. I know you can't really see me, but it's killing me to see you like this. It's so hard for me to sit here and watch you while I can't do anything to help you." Roxas said, grabbing the chair by the desk and pulling it over to the edge of the bed. "I'll be here as long as you're like this, ok? I'm not leaving you, Axel."

* * *

Zexion had just reported the sad news to Xemnas in the Room Where Nothing Gathers, where the leader of Organization XIII was thinking of ways to add to Kingdom Hearts.

"So what are the odds of Axel surviving?" Xemnas asked.

"It's uncertain." Zexion said. "He's the same as he was when Demyx brought him here."

"And how is Roxas dealing with this?" Xemnas asked.

"He's with him, Superior." Zexion said. "I don't think he'll leave him until Axel wakes up."

"Which is understandable." Xemnas said. "Let me know if there is any change. I can't have one of my Nobodies die."

"Yes, sir." Zexion bowed before walking out of the room.

* * *

The new day dawned many hours later and night had fallen again and Axel still hadn't woken up. Roxas, true to his word, had never left Axel's side. It was all very nerve-wracking to the young Nobody. He couldn't stand not knowing if Axel was going to make it. But he _had_ to make it. Axel wouldn't leave him alone. He just wouldn't.

Roxas had nearly talked himself hoarse for the first few hours, so Axel couldn't have to hear silence. When he couldn't speak anymore, Roxas put on some music. My Chemical Romance, Dir en Grey, Tokio Hotel, AFI and Linkin Park amongst others played for hours on end while Roxas couldn't speak. Roxas played some of "their" songs like _Don't Jump_ by Tokio Hotel, _Cancer_ by My Chemical Romance and_ Over and Over_ by Three Days Grace.

_Don't Jump _was a very personal song for both Roxas and Axel. One night, Roxas couldn't stand being a Nobody anymore and had tried to jump off the Alter of Naught when Axel had found him. It was then that both confessed how they felt about each other and Axel convinced him not to jump, to give being a Nobody a second chance. And he would help Roxas, since Axel had been a Nobody for a longer period of time. It also marked the day when Axel and Roxas officially became lovers. _Don't Jump_ meant a lot to Roxas, but he knew that it would mean more to Axel, since Axel had been having these feelings since Roxas arrived and joined Organization XIII.

"_And if all that can't hold you back I'll jump for you_…" Roxas knew that the words really meant something, now that Axel really was on the brink of death. And Roxas would do anything to keep Axel alive, even if it meant ending his own life.

* * *

By this time, all of Organization XIII had heard about Axel. Zexion and Saix were in Addled Impasse killing time. Zexion was reading the dictionary and Saix was polishing his claymore for the fifth time that week.

"How's Roxas holding up?" Saix asked.

"Not so well. Poor kid." Zexion shook his head sadly.

"Is Axel really that bad?" Saix frowned.

"He's not good, but it's tearing Roxas apart. Both of them are so attached to each other that if one were to fade, then the other would probably fade a few days later." Zexion.

"And we can't bring Axel out of this?" Saix asked.

"Axel has to decide when it's okay for him to wake up." Zexion shook his head as he turned a page of his dictionary. "We don't know when that is, if it _does_ happen."

"So Axel really could die from this?" Saix queried.

"Yes, Saix, he could." Zexion nodded. "If he starts to fade, we can't do anything but let him fade."

"I know that!" Saix exclaimed, rubbing a black polishing cloth along his weapon.

"All we can do is wait." Zexion sighed. "Wait and hope that this doesn't kill him."

* * *

After the CD finished, Roxas went through Axel's enormous collection of CDs and picked out his favourite Dragonforce CD: Inhuman Rampage. Setting the track to the last song, Roxas waited for the guitar to start the sad and mournful chords. It was _Trail of Broken Hearts_, a song that they always slow-danced to, one of Axel's favourites.

"I know you really like this one, Axel." Roxas said, managing a small smile.

As the song progressed, Roxas could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He usually didn't cry when he listened to songs, but this was just too much. The song was sad to begin with. When he added in the fact that this was Axel's favourite song and that Axel could possibly die, it was all too much to handle. As the chorus started for the last time, Roxas felt the tears stream slowly down his face and he sang the words with the song.

"_Fly away down the lonely roads of yesterday. We close our eyes to see the light of brighter days. And all alone we'll be where time can never heal with the trail of broken hearts flying free."_

The song came to a chilling end with the guitar fading slowly into the distance where it could never be heard again. Roxas wanted to get up so he could change the CD, but he couldn't. He was too exhausted from crying and staying up for hours on end with Axel. His mind was telling him to do so many things that could possibly help, but he knew that nothing could work. There was nothing he could do to save Axel.

He was still crying when he heard something move ever so slightly next to him. Puzzled, Roxas looked at Axel and saw that he was waking up. After a few minutes, the peridot eyes opened and Roxas couldn't say that he'd never been happier to see those gorgeous eyes.

"Axel." Roxas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Roxas…" Axel said softly.

"You don't know how relieved I am to see you awake, Axel." Roxas said. "Hold on a second." He stood and walked to the door, where he opened the ivory door and yelled out into the hallway. "Vexen! Zexion! Axel's awake!"

A few minutes later, Zexion and Vexen came running into the room with Demyx close behind him.

"What the hell, Axel?!" Demyx exclaimed. "I told you to let me know if things got too bad! We could've gone home another way!"

"I couldn't find you." Axel's voice was a little raspy.

"How do you feel?" Vexen asked.

"Tired." Axel said with a small smile.

"Well, he's back to normal." Roxas smiled for the first time in what felt like years.

"Do you remember everything?" Zexion asked anxiously.

"Yeah." Axel nodded. "You're Demyx, Zexion, Vexen and Roxas."

"Well, it seems like his memory is fine." Vexen said. "It'll take him a little while for him to be back to normal."

"At least he's not dead, Vexen." Roxas glared at the Chilly Academic.

"Yes, that's a good thing." Demyx said with his usual grin.

"I'll go tell Superior." Zexion said. "Come with me, Demyx."

"Okay!" Demyx skipped after the Cloaked Schemer.

"I'm going back down to the lab." Vexen said. "Roxas, let me know if anything happens."

Roxas nodded as Vexen left the room, leaving Roxas and Axel alone.

"What happened, Roxas?" Axel was slowly starting to sound like his old self.

"You've been a coma for the last twenty-four hours. You had me so worried, Axel." Roxas said.

"It's not like I _wanted_ to be in a coma." Axel was definitely back to normal. "I could hear you, Roxas."

"I didn't think you could." Roxas said softly.

"You were crying." Axel said in a volume that matched Roxas'.

"I cried a lot. It was so hard to see you like that when I couldn't do anything." Roxas said. "I felt so _helpless_, Axel. I thought you were going to die on me."

"But I didn't." Axel reached up and brushed a stray tear away from Roxas' check. "I'm right here."

"I know. I never thought I'd miss seeing your eyes so much." Roxas said, managing a small smile. "I've never really noticed before now, but now I see them like I've been looking at them for a thousand years."

"Now you know how I felt about your eyes, Roxas." Axel said as some colour started to return to his face. "And I still feel that way."

"I'm just so glad that you're alive, Axel." Roxas said.

Axel gave a small laugh and said, "Me, too." The peridot eyes closed, but opened for a short time to ask, "Stay with me?"

"As long as you want me, Axel." Roxas said.

"I'll want you forever." Axel said before his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

**This was SO hard to write! I kept crying! I hope the ending isn't too bad...review? thanks for reading!**


End file.
